LED v LCD Screen

I had the same question, and people were happy to oblige me. Here's the link to my post

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=75087

the general feeling is led is more evenly lit and brighter, and lcd may dim over its lifetime - which led doesn't

I got my 15" MBP a couple of days ago, and the screen is way brighter and more evenly lit than my old Powerbook. In order to get the screens to about the same brightness, I had to reduce the MBP screen brightness by 6 notches. It's also a different colour - more of a white-yellowish tint compared to the PB which was more pinkish-red.

It's also just a tiny bit faster than the PB

Can u get the color right with colorsync utility?
Or is there definately a tint?

I haven't tried - I'm sure you can though. What I mean by "tint" is really the predominant colour when the screens were next to each other. The MBP was more yellowish, compared to the PB which was more pinkish-mauve I suppose.

If I was only looking at one or the other my eyes get used to that screen just fine - this is more apparent when they are sitting next to each other, like in a television showroom where some screens are more blue, others more red etc.

I work in music, so the screen colour isn't an issue at all for me, just as long as it looks fine, and the MBP looks amazing! It's so bright I have to turn it down though - I'm just not used to that amount of light from a laptop.

Hopefully this helps.

Indeed.

Whoa, I'd be thinking about returning a machine that looked like that. That's terrible.

How can anyone be expected to do work with anything like photo or movie correction with a screen like that?

I wonder if color profile adjustment would help or if it's just the nature of LED screens.

could this just be a defect, or is this on all of them? Anybody check them out at an apple store and compare?

They're different but maybe the other one is just as bad, only blue-ish.

I'd like to see a side by side comparison with a Cinema Display.

This is what ColorSync is for. Easy fix. Every LCD I've ever had, I've always tweaked it, even if it looked fine right away. I can always find something better.

Yep colorsync is the solution i guess.

It looks to me that the led screen has more contrast, or the old screen is a bit more transparent.

The situation is not clear yet. See my posts in the other thread here.

Does anyone know if there are any large monitors available on the market with LED backlighting, say about 20"?

It is amazing the amount of twisted information kicking around out there. Considering what I've just read in this post I thought a quick couple of comments would be in order.

1) LED vs LCD backlighting: Apparently a lot of people are thinking that the actual display is either an LED display or an LCD display. The actuality is that both displays are LCD, but they have different backlights. The backlights on the 15" MBPs are now LED whereas the 17" and the MBs are still the old CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps). The advantages to LED backlighting are 1) Less energy usage. 2) More even lighting. 3) They have a phenomenally long life. 4) They don't get dim with age.

And onto the next issue.

There is a posting on this thread showing two different monitors, one with the LED backlighting and one with the old CCFL backlighting. The pictures show what appears to be a difference in tint between the two models with the LED unit having a more pronounced yellow tint. By the way this has surfaced on numerous other forums as well.

The reality is that, yes, as shipped the LED unit has the slight yellowish tint, however that is merely the result of the default colour profile that Apple has set the machine at from the factory. If you want to change that default then you simply go into System Preferences, click on Displays,
click on the Colour tab, then click on Calibrate, and simply follow the instructions to create your own custom colour profile. Very simple.

Hope this helps

Sopranino

Its 'cold cathode fluorescent lamps' (CCFL) so you are wrong there matey.

Oops, you're right, however that doesn't alter what I was saying. Thanks for the correction

From what people at Macbidouille say, this unfortunetaly does not helps. The problem is exactly that, it seems it is not a calibration issue (for those who have the problem anyway) and even specialized third party solutions are unable to provide a fix. As long as calibration does nothing to correct the problem (in the cases where there is one), no one can tell for sure what is going on here before many units are out there.

Interesting issue. I'll get my MbP on monday. I have to get the LED display, because I want the 2,4 ghz and the improved videocard. 17 inch is no option.(Too expensive)

I don't believe that the yellow-tint will be a big problem, because Apple won't use it when it's too bad. I don't think that apple only uses the LED displays for powersaving. Why should they?

I'll post my experiences here on monday... I am very curious about the results. I will ask the people in the Apple store for their experiences, and compare the screen with the screens of the normal Macbook.

P.s. excuse me for my bad english, I'm from the Netherlands...

We may be talking about two separate issues without knowing about it. My brother has a new SR MBP and it had almost exactly the same colour difference as the two pictures posted in this thread do. It took about five minutes playing around with the Colour Calibration tool to get the screen to a more white tint. There have been no problems since and the comparing his older PB to the new LED SR MBP doesn't show up any colour difference.

Can you get some more specifics regarding what Macbidouille is saying?

Sopranino

I kinda suspect someone at Macbidouille doesn't know how to use the display calibration. I was at the Apple Store the Wednesday after the MBPs were released. They only had one of the LED models out, next to an older CCFL model. I saw no noticeable difference in the displays.

It does sound to me like it's more of an issue with Apple's factory preset calibration, rather than the displays themselves. But who knows, there could be faulty displays out there. If you think you might have one, I'd say either take a trip to the Genius Bar, or call up Apple's support people.

Here is the english version of the article.


I am afraid they know well what they are doing. In their MBP they see no yellow shift.

oh, hm, the translation site I tried was bad... hm... I hope Apple is looking into this I think they may be, because someone reported in the thread for the 7200 rpm HD delays that MBP stock is drying up at Apple Stores in his area (and potentially others), so I wonder if Apple's holding up some production and checking the displays before shipping them out to the stores (and checking them before shipping BTO machines). All I know is I'm gonna be pissed and take it up with them if mine has that tint issue...

I don't think there's anything *wrong* with these displays at all. Mine works gloriously. Much clearer and brighter than my old PB. It did have the yellowish tint on the default profile, but it's easily tweaked. Mine looks awesome now.

The backlight on my old Powerbook 1.67 (well not terribly old - August 2005) was/is very uneven.

So let me get this straight. The 17" doesn't come LED at this time, but the 15" does? Not even as an optional upgrade? Just curious, but is this stated on the Apple site? I'm about to pick up a new one, yet will hold off if this is so.

I just sold a previous model MBP 17" and I couldn't stand the screen with the unevenness. My Pismo, although dimmer and obviously older, seems to be more even and has held up marvelously.

Tony

Yes, the LED screens are only on the 15".

Yellow tint? I bought my new 15" MBP with LED and the first thing I did (as I've done with all previous Macs I've purchased) was calibrate the screen in "Displays". The whites are WHITE and everything looks amazing. If you're experiencing something different I'd bet the issue to not be the computer.

Yep, the 17" MBPs are still on the old CCFLs, due to costs. We've had word from people getting new models that the base model 17" models are still the same displays, but if you get the option for the higher resolution screen, the backlighting is more even.

Thanks for the info, Loungepop... did you get a base model, or have a BTO option on it, and did you order it online, or pick it up in-store? I'm kinda thinking maybe we can pin down exactly where the yellow tint problem is happening...

Curious though, If Apple was holding back machines because of a potential display problem wouldnt the online store be reflecting that and the ship time of 3-5 buisness days on the regular MBP be longer? (Im guessing 3-5 and not 1-3 like normal due to the demand which to me is reasonable.)

Makes sense also that the 17' that uses the old backlighting is shipping fine with any option given it. Interesting....

After having just made my last post i checked the apple online store and the ship date on the MBP base has changed from 3-5 to 5-7. A full week is a little more than a demand issue of you ask me. Possibly as mentioned apple gets their LED backlights from different distributors and one makes the yellowish tint?

Good thing mine ships by July 31. Plenty of time to correct it...right?!?!

I bought the top-end 15" MBP with LED, 2.4 Santa Rosa etc... I got it the day of release at the Apple store right after they opened...

Hi you guys, im from the netherlands, and shoud receive my MBP next week.

Could you please ellaborate on how to calibrate the colours?

You just open System Preferences, and then you go to the Displays preference pane. There you will find the calibration utility. All you have to do is to follow the instructions.

If only everything in life would be that simple!

Can't wait till i get my MBP!

I had planned on the high res option if I went 17" again. How does it compare to the evenness/brightness/crispness of the 15" LED? I assume not even close.

If times get tight and I have to purchase I guess I could go 15", but then the high res option is out.

Tony

lol, now there's the reaction Apple aims for when making their stuff


Hm, so there could be potential for the low-end to have a problem...